1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to data processing systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a timed phase reutilization of configured products.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern manufacturers are always in a state of flux, assembling and tearing down specialized products. These specialized products are produced specifically to the configuration requirements of a customer and are often referred to as one-of-a-kind configurations. The teardown may result from various events, including products built for extended failure analysis tests, products built for loaners for other parts of a company under a warranty period, or even products that were cancelled during the manufacturing process. The problem is that tearing down specialized products is costly, induces damage, impacts cycle time, and capacity of the manufacturer during peak manufacturing periods.
Some companies build up products as finished goods and put these goods into stock. These fixed stock items are then advertised for sale as fixed products with a defined released part number. Some companies also resell cancelled inventory in a similar fashion. Still, the cancelled inventory is complete finished goods. This process, however, does not lend itself to a configure-to-order business, where the configuration permutations represent millions of possible stocking items. Additionally this model does not accommodate products that are partially assembled and tested that have never finished the manufacturing process to become a finished, shippable good.
Other companies tear down most of the returned or specialized products back into purchased or subassembly components. The companies then build the new customer orders from these parts specifically to the customer configuration, upon receipt of the order. This practice results in damaged components, additional scrap from one-time-used parts, and impacts resources during manufacturing peak production.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to reutilize partially configured products in a timely and efficient manner. “Partially configured” products are products that were built and/or tested to a certain point in the specification of the product, but not completed. Partially configured products can be offered for sale and sold as “starting point” configurations or complete configurations, depending upon the completeness of the manufacturing activities and the requirements of the customer configuration. By using this starting point, the labor and cycle time already imbedded into the product can be leveraged for a new customer with a similar requirement.